Free Tools

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In the course of investigating tools for reporting when a Windows computer is "ready for work," I discovered that there is no prepackaged way to cause a WAV file to play in a batch file or other script. Though I found a solution), it was still in source code form, and was pretty Spartan. Since I have access to a good C compiler, I copied it off into a new Visual Studio project, converted the signature so that it would accept wide character inputs, and dressed it up a bit. The result is SoundOff.exe, available in binary form, from [^]](https://github.com/txwizard/SoundOff/blob/master/SoundOff_Binary.ZIP).

Though I could easily have implemented it as a Visual Basic script, I prefer a compiled EXE because its use does not depend upon a working Visual Basic Scripting interpreter, which is not a given in some locked down environments.

Nevertheless, for fun, below is my improved implementation, which took maybe an hour to cobble together and test.

' ------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
' Function Name: ReportFileNotFound
'
' Synopsis: Display brief instructions about the syntax, and return
' a nonzero status code, which becomes the return value of
' the script.
'
' Arguments: psFileSpec = Name of file that cannot be found
'
' Returns: The return value is always ERROR_NO_ARGS.
'
' Remarks: This script displays its entire message at once, so that
' it behaves appropriately when run by WScript.exe. Since
' the script is otherwise silent, this adjustment of my
' standard practice permits it to run in either host.
' ------------------------------------------------------------------------

' ------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
' Function Name: ShowSyntax
'
' Synopsis: Display brief instructions about the syntax, and return
' a nonzero status code, which becomes the return value of
' the script.
'
' Arguments: None
'
' Returns: The return value is always ERROR_NO_ARGS.
'
' Remarks: This script displays its entire message at once, so that
' it behaves appropriately when run by WScript.exe. Since
' the script is otherwise silent, this adjustment of my
' standard practice permits it to run in either host.
' ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Restore ownership feature allows you to restore the ownership and access rights that you have changed early. i.e. this is opposite of "take ownership".

Registry browser for easy Registry key selection.

Favorites - for quick access to your favorite Registry locations. It is shared with Favorites menu of Registry Editor!

Registry jump feature - you can open the selected key in Registry Editor. It is a very handy option when you read some tweaking related article and want to jump to the key mentioned in article. Simply copy-paste it into RegOwnershipEx.

Shortcuts for root keys - you may use HKCU instead of HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKLM instead of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and so on.

Multi language support - you will be able to translate the application into your native language by a simple ini file.

When you open RegOwnershipEx, it analyses your clipboard content. If you copied a Registry path before launching the app, it will be pasted in RegOwnershipEx automatically!

Also, there is a useful /J command line argument. Here is how you can use it. You can copy the path to a Registry key to the clipboard and launch the app as RegOwnershipEx.exe /J

the ability to paste a Registry path with square brackets. You can copy such a path from a REG file and paste it in the app. It will be processed correctly. This also saves you time, since you can just copy the whole line from a REG file without editing.

«When I consider my brief span of life, swallowed up in an eternity before and after, the little space I fill, and even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I am ignorant, and which know me not, I am frightened, and am astonished at being here rather than there; for there is no reason why here rather than there, now rather than then.» Blaise Pascal

We have been doing lots of typing and copy and paste ever since computers were invented, but we have never seen any tool that extends the clipboard that we use daily. I would like to introduce the new MluSmarEdit which is a tool to extend your ordinary clipboard. This tool enables you to copy up to 10 different texts and paste any of them anytime you want to. Its like having 10 clipboards in one computer. We know that normally you only copy once to a clipboard and when copying again your previous copied data will be overwritten and when you need it again while you are typing that long document or multiple documents you have to copy that again. Well thanks to MCSIDevelopers for their new free MluSmartEdit which enables you to copy 10 different texts and paste them as many as required at any order.

The tool is very easy to use, all you need to do is to check your system tray and see if the MluSmartEdit is active or not. If the icon is green it means its active but if the icon is black it means the the tool is inActive to make it active you need to right click on it and click Start then begin copying or pasting. Remember what you copied while the MluSmartEdit was not active will not be available on the list to paste.

If you buy a Micro SD card, it will almost certainly arrive formatted exFAT - which standard Android cannot read (some variant phones can, but if you want to rely on your next phone also supporting it given that changing the format is a data-destructive process that is your decision).
But Android can read FAT32 - but Windows will only format devices up to 32GB as FAT32.
And if you have a dual boot machine, it's really nice to have a card that both OSes can read...

This works in Windows 10: Ridgecrop Consultants Ltd[^] - it's not new, it's not pretty, but it's free, fast, and it works.
I used it today to format a new 128GB Micro SDXC for my dual boot Win10/Android tablet to FAT32 and both OSes read and write it fine. Means I can keep one book collection, one music collection, one set of documents and share them with both OSes.

I don't know if virtual box (oracle vm) is subject for this discussion (if I can consider it as a free tool simply). But I would like to know if running a Windows o.s. (let's say any version) within the virtual box can preserve the host machine in this sense:
if i run the web browsers and the emailing applications in the virtual box, then do the eventual malware, spyware, virus find a barrier impossible to get trough?
Regards
Roberto

To answer your question:
There would be a barrier as long as the OS in the virtual system has no write access to the file system of the host (shared folders), to external storage devices like USB drives, and to network file shares.

Tool is used for development and maintenance SW that has a trace mechanism (e.g. serial port or standard IO console).
xTracer supports macros and extensions through custom plugins to work with specific protocols, such as CAN and other.

A code signing application I have developed can be downloaded for free using this link. It allows code signing using a .pfx certificate file with minimum hassle. Hope you enjoy it. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.